Method of providing multiple separation modes in a feeder

Abstract

Discrete means of setting a feeder to process a wide range of media, i.e., sheets, slips, envelopes, booklets and hand collated documents, etc. as well as providing a method of utilizing the feeder for manual feed operation. The foregoing is accomplished by a friction-clutch retard feeder equipped with one or more friction clutches. When a selection lever is moved to a position 1 , a primary clutch engages the separator roller with a resistive torque T 1 . The selection lever configures the mechanism such that the separator roller rotation is resisted entirely by the torque of the primary clutch. When the selection lever is moved to a position 2 , the ground of the primary clutch is removed, and the rotation of the separator roll is coupled through a gear ratio to a secondary clutch. The selection of the gear ratio and the value of the secondary clutch allows the separation mechanism to be resisted by a second torque, T 2 , which can be lower than T 1 .

1. A method for providing separation modes in a feeder, the method comprising the steps of:
 selecting a first operating mode; 
 configuring a friction clutch separator to the first operating mode in order to supply a resistive torque T 1  provided by a first friction clutch to a separator roller; 
 selecting a second operating mode; and 
 configuring the friction clutch separator to the second operating mode in order to supply a resistive torque T 2  provided by a second friction clutch to the separator roller, wherein in the second operating mode the resistive torque T 2  is less than the resistive torque T 1 . 
 
   
   
     2. The method claimed in  claim 1 , wherein shear forces for separating paper sheets in the feeder is reduced. 
   
   
     3. The method claimed in  claim 1 , wherein T 2  is equal to a ratio of a first gear pitch diameter divided by a second gear pitch diameter multiplied by the torque of the second friction clutch. 
   
   
     4. The method claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the second operating mode is used to separate multiple sheet sets. 
   
   
     5. The method claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the first operating mode is used to separate single sheets. 
   
   
     6. The method claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the second operating mode is used to separate multiple sheet sets. 
   
   
     7. The method claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the second operating mode imparts a lower separation shear than the first operating mode. 
   
   
     8. The method claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the second operating mode is used for low basis weight paper and the first operating mode is used for high basis weight paper. 
   
   
     9. The method claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the first operating mode is used for images that are affixed to paper better than the images affixed to paper in second operating mode. 
   
   
     10. The method claimed in  claim 7 , wherein the first operating mode is used for sheets having a high sheet to sheet friction coefficient and the second operation mode is used for sheets having a lower friction coefficient than the sheets in the first operating mode. 
   
   
     11. The method claimed in  claim 1 , further including the steps of:
 providing additional operating mode selections; and 
 configuring the friction clutch separator to additional torques based upon the additional mode selected. 
 
   
   
     12. The method claimed in  claim 11 , wherein the additional modes supply successively decreasing separator roller resistive torques.